Winner!!

There were so many good guesses in the previous post about what I was knitting, and the correct answer came from Gill:  yes indeed, it is a tiny shrug for my Blythe doll!!

Here again is the picture I showed you:

All you do is sew the corners of the long edge to the corners of the short edge, then roll the long edge back to form a collar:

It is a free pattern on Ravelry, called "Shrugs and Kisses" by Maggie Baird. I love it when designers share their patterns free of charge!  As a beginning knitter, I hesitate to buy a pattern that might turn out to be too complicated for me.

This shrug is the perfect little accessory with a sleeveless dress, and I'm making one for each of my dolls.  I'm also in a couple of Blythe swaps, and they are great for swap packages!

Gill, I have e-mailed you; your zippered pouch will be in the mail to you soon!!

THANK YOU to everyone who left a comment, I appreciate that you took the time to do so.  I thought waggonswest was going to figure it out, the way she was applying such logic to it!  And I need to give special recognition to Angie for the funniest guess:  she thought it looked a lot like a nose warmer!!

What Is It? Guess and Win! (Updated 1/29)

Tuesday Update:  Thanks for your great comments and guesses!  No one got it right yesterday, so feel free to keep guessing.  Also feel free to repeat someone else's guess if you are stumped, because everyone who leaves a comment will be entered in the drawing if there is no correct guess.
____________________________________________________________________________

It's been a while since my last giveaway, so let's have another one!  To contrast with the gray weather we are having in Virginia today, I'm offering a bright, sunshiny-yellow zippered pouch! (Key not included!  It is for size comparison only!)

This is one of my very popular pouches that I created for the Master Craftster Series on Craftster last year.  It measures 5.5" x 8", it is fully lined, and it can be used for lots of things--I'm sure you will find it quite handy if you win it!

This time, the winner of the giveaway will be the first person to guess what I am going to make with the little knitted piece in the picture below. (I won't be adding anything else to the piece, but I will do something with those dangling yarn ends to finish it.)  Leave your best guess in the comment section, one guess per person, per day (that's right...go ahead and guess again tomorrow if there is no winner today.)  The giveaway will end when someone guesses correctly (and the winning guess has to be exactly correct...not just close! There are two particular words I will look for in the winning guess.)  If no one guesses it by Friday, February 1st, I will choose a random winner from everyone who left a comment.

Be sure I have a way to contact you if you win...if you are not a registered Blogger user (and your comment shows up as posted by "Anonymous"), leave your email address too.

And this is just a little side note--I know a lot of you dislike the "captcha" verification thingy that you have to complete before you can post your comment; I actually turned it off for a couple of weeks, and the flood of spam became so overwhelming I had to turn it back on.  If you have trouble leaving a comment, just send me a message (leslieandersen4@gmail.com) and I will post your comment for you.

Good luck to all!  I can't wait to read your guesses!!!

Winner!

Because I'm short on time today, I used the reliable Random Number Generator to choose the winner of December's Surprise Giveaway--it's not nearly as exciting as watching a cat choose the winner, but it sure is fast!

There were 32 comments, and the winner is number 31...

****Linny****

Congratulations, Linny, I have just sent you an e-mail.  This purse will be in your mailbox soon!

Thank you to all of you who read my blog and left comments, and an especially BIG thanks to all who voted for The Giving Heart in the charity Christmas tree contest.  I will be sure to announce it here if they win!

Surprise! It's Giveaway Time! (Now Closed)

Giving stuff away is fun, that's why I'm happy to announce December's givewawy!

You might remember this bag from when I posted it this summer; I love the fabric so much I had to show you the bag right after I made it. I actually made two of them; I am using one right now, and the other one will go to one of you!!

This purse is the smaller size that I make, but it is big enough to hold a large wallet and a big pouch full of whatever you need to carry!

Dimensions:

9" tall

12" wide at the top

8.5" wide at the bottom

4" deep

12.5" drop to the straps

To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment below.  

If you happen to be one of the FABULOUS people who voted for The Giving Heart's charity Christmas tree--THANK YOU--please leave a second comment below, for a second chance to win. (If you haven't voted yet, you still can; click HERE to go to the voting page; scroll down and click the box next to "The Giving Heart".  Then come back here and leave a second comment.)

If you sent handmade hearts to The Giving Heart--Kay in England and Pam in Illinois are the two that I know of--please leave a third comment for yet another entry in this giveaway.

If you are not registered with Blogger (your comment will show up as "anonymous"), please include your email address so I can contact you if you win.  The giveaway will close at 9 a.m. EST on Saturday, Dec. 15th (three days from now).  I will announce the winner here on this blog shortly thereafter.

Good luck, and thanks for visiting my blog!

We Have a Winner!!

I'm pleased to announce the winner of my first Surprise Giveaway!  Thank you, everyone who left a comment, I loved hearing from you!

Before I tell you who won, I want to show you how the winner was chosen.  I did it differently than usual, because I'm tired of the random number generator (it's just a little boring.) Since everything is better with cats, I decided to enlist the help of one of the feline members of my household to help me choose a winner.

First, I wrote the numbers 1-19 on slips of paper. (There were actually 20 comments, but Helen kindly asked that her comment not count for the drawing, since she already has one of my bags.  Thank you so much for your lovely comments and compliments, Helen!  I'm really happy that you like your bag so much!)

Then I crumpled them into balls. Cats like little balls of paper.

Cats also like catnip, so I sprinkled some into a bowl and added the paper balls.  Before I was finished, Juniper volunteered to help me out.

He really enjoyed his catnip treat, and as he nosed around in the bowl, he pushed out one ball of paper.

And the winner is...number 12...Ofelia!

(Yes, Juniper does have rather large paws.  He is a polydactyl cat, which means he has extra toes.)

Thanks again for visiting my blog, and for your wonderful comments--they really made my week!

There will be another surprise giveaway sometime next month.

November Surprise Giveaway (Now Closed)

You may remember the decision I made a few months ago to stop selling my work; I felt that I was in a rut of making purse after purse, without enough room for creativity.  So when I closed  my little booth at the local store, I had some inventory left over; I wanted a few of the things for myself, but there are still a lot more goodies just sitting around.  What should I do with them?  Why not give them away to my readers?!

This is the first of what I intend to be monthly "surprise" giveaways.  The surprise is that they will just show up randomly and unannounced.  I won't publicize them anywhere, so only people who happen to read my blog in the two days that the giveaway is open will have a chance to win.

Since it has already started snowing in parts of the U.S., this wintery bag seems like the perfect one to give away this month!

Here are the details:

The front of this bag is reinforced quilting cotton; the back is blue canvas, and the lining is a wonderful upholstery fabric.   I use a layer of heavy interfacing to give the bag enough body to stand up on its own. The front is accented with braided trim and my signature handmade clay heart.

14" wide at the top
10" wide at the bottom
10" tall
4" deep
12.5" drop to the straps

Features:
Back pocket (great for keys or cell phone)
Inner pocket (closes with velcro)
Zipper at the top (with suede zipper pull)
Lightweight yet very sturdy

To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment below.  If you are not registered with Blogger, and your comment shows up as "anonymous", please include your email address so I can contact you if you win.  The giveaway will close at 10 a.m. EST on Saturday, Nov. 10th (two days from now).  I will announce the winner here on this blog shortly thereafter.

Good luck, and thanks for visiting my blog!

GIVEAWAY--Day #7

Alas, I now come to my very last day of this gigantic Seven Days of Giveaways.  I am posting early this morning so you don't have to keep checking my blog all day!!  I have enjoyed the excitement of all of you who have posted comments; this has been a wonderful celebration of 100+ followers, my blog's one-year anniversary, and my birthday!

Congratulations to yesterday's winners, Eclectic Dreamer and B Greene (again)!

I saved the best for last:  today, the first person to leave a comment (and email me your mailing address) will receive one of my zippered purses!  This one has cupcakes and plenty of pink on it.  You will also get one of my wool felt tie-on pincushions, and a couple of Martha Stewart party items.

The second person to leave a comment (and email me your mailing address) will win these three Michael Miller fabric fat quarters (thanks again for donating these to my giveaway, Susan) and a funky little zippered pouch with an underwater scene on it (below).

To all of you who follow my blog and read it regularly:  THANK YOU!  I have fun writing this and showing you what I'm working on, and I truly appreciate the comments you leave because they let me know that this blog is actually being read! 

I will now return to my regular schedule of posting something every-other-day.  See you on Sunday!

GIVEAWAY--Day #6

Here we are on the penultimate* day of my Seven Days of Giveaways--Day Six!  Congratulations to yesterday's winners, kathy k and kay, both of whom have been trying all week to win something!  I'm so glad you both met with success yesterday!!

Today, the first person to post a comment (and email me your mailing address) will win this cute little handmade  fabric basket (based on a tutorial by Ayumi Mills).  You will also receive one of my watermelon-heart pins, and a very nice embroidery kit by Dimensions.

The second person to post a comment (and email me your mailing address) will win this pretty handmade zippered clutch with removeable strap, and three fat quarters of Michael Miller fabric (thanks, Susan!!)

Good luck to you all, and come back tomorrow for the final giveaway!



*Isn't this a good vocabulary word?  "Penultimate" means "next-to-last".

GIVEAWAY--Day #5

This is Day Five of my amazing Seven Days of Giveaways!  Yesterday's winners are both doubly lucky, because Katie also grabbed a prize on day #2, and Wendie got one on day #1!!  The rest of you will have to type your comments FAST to beat these two!

Today I am offering another morsbag that I made as a sample for the Craft This Tote Round 2 on Craftster.  You will LOVE this bag, because it is so big and lightweight, you can use it for a lot of things besides shopping.  Just yesterday I used one to carry my packages to the post office for mailing!  In addition to the morsbag, the first person to leave a comment (and email me your mailing address) will win a zipper-flower kit from Laliberi, and a Michael Miller fabric fat quarter (thanks, Susan!)

Yesterday I gave away a monster pouch to both winners, and I still have one left!  This is a sunglasses/eyeglasses pouch, but I have a friend who uses one of these to carry her checkbook in her purse.  The second person to leave a comment (and email me your mailing address) will get this cute monster, plus three fat quarters of Michael Miller fabric.

Thanks for stopping by, and if you don't win today, you still have two more days to try again!

GIVEAWAY--Day #4

Wow, it's already Day Four of my Seven Days of Giveaways!  Congratulations to yesterday's winners, Twisted Truth and B Greene!

Today I have some monsters to give away!  The first person to comment (and email me their mailing address) will win this cute monster pouch with removeable shoulder strap (below)--I made it for my partner in the Monster Pouch Swap on Craftster, and realized just before mailing it that she is allergic to wool, and this monster has teeth made of wool felt!  Arggg!  So I made a different one for her, which leaves this one as a giveaway prize.  It is large enough to hold a Kindle Fire.  You will also receive a very nice needle punch kit by Dimensions.

The second person to leave a comment (and email me your mailing address) will receive the zippered monster pouch pictured below.  This was one of the "spokesmonsters" for the aforementioned Monster Pouch swap, so he is quite famous!  You will also receive three fat quarters of Michael Miller fabric.

Good luck to everyone!  There will be more stuff tomorrow!

GIVEAWAY--Day #3

Today is Day #3 of my gigantic Seven Days of Giveaways!  Congrats to yesterday's winners, Shannon and Katie!

Today, the first person to leave a comment (and email me their mailing address) will get the items pictured below: the apron I made as a sample for the Crafter's Apron Swap on Craftster, and a very nice embroidery kit by Dimensions, which makes a pillow cover.

The second person to leave a comment (and email me their mailing address) will get this handmade keychain pouch (pictured below), plus three Michael Miller fat quarters (thanks for providing these, Susan!)

Good luck to all, and don't forget to check back tomorrow, when I will be giving away some more stuff!  I am posting at a different, random time each day to try to give everyone an equal chance.

GIVEAWAY--Day #2

Congratulations to yesterday's winners, Wendie K and macky5331! 

This is Day #2 of my Seven Days of Giveaways, and I am offering the items pictured below:

The first person to comment (and email me their mailing address) will win this mini tote (a Wendi Gratz pattern) which I made as the example for the Craft This Tote (and fill it!) swap on Craftster, plus an embroidery kit by Dimensions, which is easy enough for beginners.

The second person to comment will win this handmade card case, made from beautiful cherry-blossom fabric, and three Michael Miller fabric fat quarters.

Good luck to all of you, and check back tomorrow for another chance to win!  I am posting the prizes at a different, random time each day, so people in all time zones will have a chance.

GIVEAWAY--Day One

Finally, it's here--this is the first day of Seven Days of Giveaways! (Because my blog has reached--and gone past--100 followers; this blog will be one year old on the 28th; and happy St. Patrick's birthday to me!)

The first two people to comment (and email me their mailing addresses) will win the pictured items:

Commenter #1 wins a pink morsbag, a Laliberi coiled rose kit, and a Michael Morris fat quarter.

Commenter #2 wins an orange tissue-pack cover and three fat quarters of Michael Morris fabric.

If you are number one or two, please remember to email me your mailing address (click on my picture at the right to find the "e-mail" button.)  Then come back tomorrow to see what else is up for grabs!

Giveaway PREVIEW

Sometime yesterday afternoon, my number of followers hit the 100 mark!  I'm so thrilled about that, and the timing is perfect, because my Seven Days of Giveaways celebration (in honor of 100 followers, and my blog's one year anniversary) starts on Saturday.  Today is a preview of what I will be giving away.

The whole kit and kaboodle:

There's so much stuff it will hardly stay within the confines of this blog!!  Each day I will post a picture of that days' prizes.  The first person to comment will get one of the bigger handmade items plus an extra goodie or two.  The second person to comment will get three Michael Miller fat quarters (pictured below--THANKS Susan!) plus an extra goodie.

Below are some of the "goodies"--EK Success Brands craft kits and products that I received at the Fork and Talk event hosted by  Craft Gossip in Little Rock, Arkansas, last September. (They are having another one in April--I hope I can go!)

The fun starts on Saturday, March 17th and will go on for seven days.  Each day I will post pictures of the days' prizes, but the trick is, I will post at a different, random time each day, so whoever are the first two to see the post and comment on it (and give me their mailing addresses) will win.  Good luck to all of you!

Pincushion Surprise

Over at Craftster, there's always something fun going on; a few weeks ago a challenge was issued, to do some sort of Random Act of Crafty Kindness, and then post about it on the challenge board.  Here's what I did:

I made a TON of these cute little tie-on pincushions (based on these at the Better Homes and Gardens website).  Here they are, in-progress.

and I mailed one to each person who signed up for our Fabric Basket Swap. The picture below shows some of them, ready for mailing.  I sent them anonymously, but about half of the recipients knew they were from me!  (I didn't know it would be so obvious!)

The picture below shows the three stages of construction:
1.  Cut out 2 heart-shaped pieces from wool felt, and choose two scraps of felt for the leaves and flower.  I cut the leaves and flowers free-hand.
2.  With embroidery floss, sew the leaves and flower in place; add a button to the center of the flower.  Choose ribbon for the tie, and embroidery floss for the stitching around the edges, in a color that will add a little contrast.
3.  Blanket stitch around the edges.  When you come to the top of the heart, tuck in the ribbon and anchor it with a couple of extra stitches.  When there is only a small opening left to sew, stuff the heart with fiberfill, and continue stitching to close it up.
4.  Give it away, or enjoy it yourself!

These were a big hit with all who received them; their happiness and excitement made ME happy and excited!  It is so fun to do something nice and unexpected for other people!

If you didn't receive one of these from me but wish you did, you still have a chance!  Starting on March 17th I will be hosting a 7-day-long celebration of both my birthday (yeah, I was a St. Patrick's Day baby!) AND my 1-year anniversary of blogging (I started last year on March 28th) AND having 100 followers (okay, okay, as of today I only have 90...but that's pretty close to 100!).  For seven days in a row, I will be giving away stuff I have made and brand new fabric fat quarters to people who leave a comment on that days' post!  It's going to be great!  I can't wait!!

Exciting Project Updates!!

I have two exciting updates to share with you today: 

Remember my Happy Heart Card Tutorial?  It has been included in an e-book of Valentine projects for all ages!  Go to  Sidetracked Sarah to download your FREE copy!  Sarah only asks that you subscribe to her blog in return for the free e-book.  Thanks, Sarah!

Also, my cute little Ring Dish  tutorial will be featured on Craft Gossip this coming Tuesday, Feb. 7th.  If you are not familiar with Craft Gossip, you are missing out!  Go there and subscribe, and each morning you will get an e-mail full of all kinds of really great new crafty projects (like my ring dish!).  Every day I find several things that pique my interest, and I am sure you will find interesting things there too.

While I have your attention...don't forget about the great big, incredible, awesome, unprecidented  Seven Days of Giveaways that will begin here the day my blog reaches 100 followers!  Check back often so you don't miss out!

Seven Days of Giveaways!

I started this blog almost a year ago, in March of 2011, with three followers:  my husband, my daughter, and my wonderful friend Susan (whose idea it was that I start blogging).  As of today I am up to 76 followers, and since a few more are added each week, it won't be long before the number reaches 100!  I've been thinking that I need to do something special for my readers then, some kind of giveaway, but one day of prizes just isn't enough for something as big as this--so I've decided that starting the day my number of followers hits 100, I will have SEVEN DAYS OF GIVEAWAYS!!

Many of the things I will be giving away are the samples I've made for swaps, like this apron:

or this basket:

or these morsbags:

or this card wallet:

And to make it more fun, I will have two winners each day:  the first person to leave a comment will win the handmade item (plus whatever extras I throw into the package) and the second person to leave a comment will win a group of fat quarters of designer fabric!  The fabric is being donated by Susan; she came upon an amazing haul of brand-new, packaged fat quarters at a garage sale last year, and because she is so awesome, she is letting me give it away!!  There will be a picture of the prizes each day, which I will post at a random time, just to keep things interesting.

The tricky part is, I don't know exactly when this will all happen--that depends new followers signing up--but I think is will be within the next month or two.  I'm telling you now so you will know to keep checking here.

 As the number gets closer to 100, I will post a reminder of this great big, incredible, awesome, unprecidented SEVEN DAYS OF GIVEAWAYS!!

And the Winners Are...

(UPDATED Dec. 13, 2011)
It's time to announce the three winners of a pair of my Christmas ornament hearts!

Using a True Random Number Generator that I found online, I chose the three winners (the number corresponds to the order in which the comments were posted).  There were 51 comments; here are the three numbers that were chosen:

Winner Number One:
True Random Number Generator Min: Max:   Result: 8

Winner Number Two:
True Random Number Generator Min: Max:   Result: 18

Winner Number Three:
True Random Number Generator Min: Max:   Result: 44


#8 is Margaret (macky5331)

#18 is Gatearte in Barcelona--please contact me with your mailing address (leslieandersen4@gmail.com)
#44 is Elaine Akers

A great big THANK YOU to everyone who left a comment; I enjoyed reading them all, and I am always happy to be able to share what I make with readers!  I will have more giveaways in the future, and in the meantime, I will continue to share crafty ideas and tutorials with you (there's a super-cute scrappy braided bracelet tutorial coming up next week--don't miss it!)

Christmas Giveaway!

UPDATE:  This giveaway is now closed, and winners have been chosen!  Click HERE to see who won.

It's Christmas time again--I LOVE Christmas!!  I just made a whole bunch of these heart-shaped ornaments; there are several different colors and fabric combinations, and each one has a word in the center that is meaningful at Christmas.  They measure 3 1/2" in width.  They are puffy and light, and each one has a ribbon loop for hanging on a tree; it would also be cute to tie one onto a wrapped present as an "extra".

Since Christmas is all about giving, I want to give three of you a pair of  these heart ornaments! (Actually, I want to give ALL of you an ornament--but my resources are limited--so I can only commit to three!)

If you would like to be entered in the drawing to win a pair of hearts, just:

1.  Leave a comment below.  If you have a color or word preference (as seen in the pictures), mention it in case you are a winner.
2.  Wait patiently.  I will leave this open for one week, and choose three random winners next Saturday, December 3rd.  (Maybe you'll be lucky and only three people will comment...!)
3.  Check back here in a week to see if you are a winner.  The winners will need to contact me, so be sure to check back!
4.  I will mail the hearts to the winners sometime during the week of Dec. 5-10.

--This giveaway is open to ALL, even those who have previously won something from me!
--If you have had trouble leaving a comment before, try again, because I've changed some settings; you should be able to post a comment now.

The Post Office Loves Me

When I posted the tutorial for my scrappy patchwork technique, which included a scrap fabric giveaway, I expected to get a few requests for scraps from Craftster members, and that's just what happened the first couple of days.  Then yesterday, my Scrappy Snappy Pouches tutorial (which again included a scrap giveaway) appeared on CraftGossip.com--and now I'm almost afraid to read my e-mail because I've been flooded with requests for scraps!

I went to the post office again today, to send fabric-scrap-filled envelopes throughout the U.S. and Canada.  So far I've mailed 32 envelopes, so if you requested scraps before 10am EST today, your envelope is heading your way right now!  Here's my mail bag:

One of the envelopes in the bag actually contains a scrap of the chicken print fabric left over from making this bag (several years ago)!  Who will get it?

Ironically, after mailing away so many scraps, it actually seems that I have MORE scraps now than when I started!  It's as if every time I put one in an envelope, two more sneak into the pile!  Where are they coming from?  Take a look:

Sadly, this is how my living room looks right now, so if you haven't requested your scraps yet, don't worry, I've still got some!